Best Mo' and Sista' Combo Winners!

Billy Bob and Bubba

Holding our Beloved MO'scar

The Other Rednecks of Movember

Greg, Riley, Matt, Me, and Mark

We celebrated "Movember" for the first time at ISB this year... If you don't know, below is a little bit about the fundraising event that started in Australia. If you're a woman and want to support men's health then you're called a "mo sista'" and can wear a fake moustache, or be like me and juat a wear a button to support it.

To celebrate the craziness, our school celebrated the MO'scars. There were several categories but Travis and I went for best Mo' and Sista' Combo as rednecks- and we won! It was hilarious. Seriously. I need to find the video and post it. We had a blast and totally hammed it up on the catwalk. We couldn't see a thing on stage but the amount of applause was insane. For some people, seeing a bare pregnant belly caused some mixed reactions... From fellow mom's and dads- they thought it rocked. However, I think I shocked some of the more "conservative" staff... and you know I loved doing that. He-he. Afterwards, we all went to the staff lounge and had MO-garitas and snacks. That's right, our school has proper parties where alcohol is served. I obviously didn't partake but appreciated all the work people did to decorate and make it happen. I love working at this school. Yes, it's demanding and exhausting but we do know how to have fun!

The Mo, slang for moustache, and November come together each year for "Movember". Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men. Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.

Christmas Tree Decorating

I LOVE this time of year! As a family, we put the Christmas tree up and decorated it this weekend. Gabriella and I looked at all the ornaments and I told her the story about each one- she loved that! A tradition I started was to buy an ornament every year that represented something we did... this year we put-up the Disneyland 2010 ornament to commemorate our trip this summer. Gabby seems to really like this tradition too and this morning wanted to know about the moose ornament. She remembered where it came from, "It's from Yellowstone!" It's a fun way to talk about about family memories we've shared and special people in our life... Afterwards, we all watched "A Christmas Story." I'm happy to report that she is also a fan of the movie!

GymNees is Back!

Walking on the Balance Beam by Herself

Gabriella and Kellan

The Whole GymNees Gang

David, Kya, Gabriella, Lachlan, and Kellan

The Pink-Weenies and BFFs

Emily and Gabriella

It's really nice having PE teacher friends... they organize the coolest activities, such as GymNees. It has started up again and it's basically a time where the kids can do mini-gymnastic-type things, like balancing, running, hanging, etc. We meet every Sunday morning at 8:30 am. It's a nice time to catch-up with friends and for the kiddoes to get some exercise since it's so cold outside.

1st Annual Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Here's the Gang!

Gabriella (can't get her out of this outfit!) and Sophia

Gabriella and Leonie

 New Friends Who Both Have Celiac!

This year we hosted the first ever Gluten Free Thanksgiving in China, well at least that we know of... It was a great success! Not only was it the first one, many of the people who were there have never celebrated Thanksgiving. Travis gave a nice toast and we all felt thankful for finding such a supportive group of people... It was quite a multi-cultural gathering with people from  Norway, America, France, Panama, Australia, Belgium, England, and New Zealand. It was so nice not to worry about crumbs and cross contamination. I didn't realize the low level of anxiety I have when we go to parties with gluten... Gabriella still doesn't completely understand and neither do her friends so there's always that level of worry on your mind that she'll get sick. We supplied the turkey and stuffing and other people brought different gluten free itams. Travis is going to make some turkey soup and we have lots of yummy gluten free left-overs for some family dinners.

"The moon is following us!"

Gabby said this today as we were driving to school... Travis and I clearly remember asking our parents this when we were little... I've been waiting for her to ask. Anyway, it made me a little teary-eyed. I love that little girl.

Thanksgiving Thankful Turkey

I want Gabriella to understand and celebrate Thanksgiving like a true American, but unfortunately we don't get the days off and there won't be any cool art projects she gets to do in school... so I took it upon myself to find an activity that we can do together. I wanted it to be both fun and educational, so we made a "Thankful Turkey." Gabby was quite helpful! She painted, traced feathers, and pasted and cut-out the feathers (with some help from me). You can't really see, but on the each feather it says, "I am thanful for..." We talked about what we are thankful for, what does "thanks" mean, and why it's important to acknowledge this... Quite a challenging concept for an ego-centric 3 year-old to grasp, but I tried... When I referred to giving thanks as, "what makes you happy," she seemed to get it.

What we are thankful for: Family, Friends, Emily (Gabby's best friend), Health, Security (our jobs), Franny and Grandpa, Grammy and Papa, Mommy/Daddy/Gabriella, Chen Ayi, and the Celiac Support Group,  and the New Baby Brother/Sister

A couple of years ago I bought the DVD "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," which includes the story about the Mayflower Compact, pilgrims, and Native Americans so we'll show her that too and talk about it.

Cara's Birthday Party

Alex, Cara, Velora, Stephen,

Scott, Nina, Geoff, Sue, Rob, Kirsten, Mark, Russell,

Nikki, Mary, Brooke, Sharlene and Travis

We are just missing Devon, Laurie, and Jenn

It was a mellow and lovely buffet dinner, cooked by Chef Song. Good people and food- who could ask for a better birthday!